Too Much Work at Work........

I have no ambition to do anything after I get home from work. For the last few days I've been sitting at my desk typing and typing and typing. The last thing I want to do when I get home is do homework. Somehow I do find time to type away here. Procrastination gets the best of me. I always have a giant "to do" list when I get to work and by noon I've done 6 things and found 18 more to do. Oh the insanity. Don't get me wrong I still love my job but I am beat at the end of the day. Work has been so hectic I couldn't even email Anthony our grocery list the other day! I've been filing petitions which means I'll be in court soon and there are a whole lot of people who are not happy I've taken their kids. I did my first "removal" the other day. Without going into too much detail the mother deserved it. I know that sounds really harsh but she was honestly placing her kids in real danger. On a brighter note yesterday's post was further confirmed today. I spent my lunch hour again with people I barely know talking about boob jobs and why they are good/bad. Then we talked about piercing and our personal experiences. T(male) was also in on this conversation and participated like it was no big deal. I know a lot of guys that do this and as Arbusto has pointed out to me he'd discuss my period with me any day.
Thanks Arbusto.

Check out Arbusto: http://vivaarbusto.blogspot.com/

Being from Venus Implies Complete Disclosure

It's funny how girls can meet one another and in 5 minutes be talking about the wierdest things. For example girls have no problem talking about pms, their period, sex, and just about any other personal problem with another female within the first 24 hours of meeting them. I know this is true because I do it and I've been doing for as long as I can remember. This week in the office I was talking to J about stuff of this nature and M our new unit mate was there. In two seconds flat M was like I know what you mean because I (fill in the blank) too. From here the conversation kept going and no one batted an eye. Girls are truly strange creatures.

No Rest for the Weary

Every weekend I say I'm going to stay home and every weekend I'm off running the roads. By the time Monday rolls around I need a weekend from my weekend. I worked my last shift at my old job this weekend. I've been working two jobs for a while here and there. Not because I need the money but because I couldn't just leave my old client. Anthony and I went to his mother's for dinner this weekend and then we met up with some of my family for drinks afterward. For the first time in my life I was cut off at a bar. I have never ever been cut off by a bartender. The funny thing is I wasn't even close to drunk. I had 2 drinks and 3 shots in about an hour. I was completely fine and woke up this morning without a hangover. The bartender was like you'll be puking in no time you're cut off. I hate to tell you this but I didn't throw up and I've been building up a tolerance for some time so that hang over she promised I'd have... yea that didn't happen either. The whole thing was crazy. We ended up getting home at 3am and we're in bed by like 330. At 730 my phone rang and it was work. It's Sunday and 730! Good thing for them I was able to fall back to sleep. I swear one of these days when I say I'm spending the weekend home in bed I will.

Professional Pause

Nothing too exciting has happened in lately. Linus still has not produced the security tag that he swallowed on Sunday. Work has been crazy lately and it is only going to get crazier. I understand why it's common nature for people to lie to me about their families. Every family automatically assumes I'm there to remove their children, break up their home, and eventually be the bane of their existence. None of which is true of course. Honestly if DCF showed up at my door I'd tell them to go fuck themselves and slam the door in their face. I however would not tell blatetent obvious lies to my worker. For example I have a women who told me her husband was her neighbor. Hmmm then why is their a picture of your neighbor on your coffee table? And why are you dry humping him in the picture? How stupid do I look? (rhetorical question) It baffles me and pisses me the hell off when people lie to me. It's times like that when I wish I had a professionalism pause button. I could pause "professional Kristi" and then I could bitch slap the liar and unpause the situation. It could work in any scenario really. If anyone knows of a way that I could do this let me know.

I should be doing homework but I am procrastinating as always. Work has been alright so far but I only have 3 cases. However, that could change at any moment. I've been running around like a mad man trying to stay organized and work these cases out and get them off of my desk. A few weeks ago at the training academy they were having a raffle to support their mentor group. They were raffling off these gourmet baskets so I bought 20 tickets ($20). I put 17 of them in this really nice breakfast basket that had coffee mugs and plates with a bunch of coffees and other breakfast stuff. I put the other 3 in a chocolate basket. I didn't really like the basket all the much but it's chocolate and it doubled my odds. Guess which basket I won. Yup the chocolate basket. Just what I need a giant basket of chocolate to help out with my diet.
Linus has given us yet another run for our money. Last night he ate a security tag out of the garbage. It was one of those little plastic bar codes and it was wrapped in cloth. I saw him carrying it around our bedroom so I jumped up and yelled his name thinking he'd drop it and run like the scaredy cat his is. Instead he swallowed it whole! We had to call our vet at her house. Thank god she's a friend of ours! She said he should be fine but to monitor him to make sure he isn't vomiting constantly. She told us to buy this laxative for him at the pet store and it should work itself out. He is so weird. After he ate the tag he walked around our bedroom trying to eat lint off the carpet. He is so very special!

Look Can be Deceiving

Yes he's winking and waving at the camera. Who would think behind this cute little bundle of Linus there is a crazy cat.

Linus Update

So Linus is finally coming around. He is actually coming when I call his name and running around the house more. He still hides under the bed and is scared of every possible noise you can imagine. I'm sure if you could hear a spider sneeze he'd be afraid. In fact I was holding him last week and I picked up a single sheet of notebook paper and it crinkled. Well he proceeded to freak out and claw the crap out of my neck. It's pretty attractive. In addition to his wierdo behavior his favorite activity is playing in the toilet. I don't know why he likes it but now we have to monitor the toilet seat to make sure the lid is closed.

I Am Your Social Worker

This week has been very much like the last few. Work has been crazy and hectic. I've been in training and in my office all week long. I finally have a desk which I've decorated and organized to the best of my ability. I'm still tired after my long days and I fight to stay awake at night but eventually my body gives way to sleep. I got my first case this week. I had exactly 3 hours to brief the case and meet the family. I had to make physical contact on Thursday no matter what. I eventually got the mother on the phone and it was weird to hear her reaction when I said hello So and So this is Kristilyn Choquette from DCF, I'm the social worker that has been assigned to your case. It was a combination of sadness and relief. She wants help but she doesn't necessarily want it from the department of children and families. I've seen a lot these last few years and I've done a lot of things that make families and strangers mad. I'm a monster in many peoples eyes. How can I rip apart families and take small children from the only world they've ever known. People don't understand that the world they are coming from is riddled with abuse, starvation, neglect, and maltreatment. I am not the real monster. However, despite all of that I still walk away at the end of the day being the villain. I was called a "cold-hearted bitch" last week and a variety of other names. The words don't hurt me and removing children doesn't phase me. I even separated siblings last week into different placements. I walked away fine and feeling comfortable in the fact I knew even though separate and sad they were safe. None of these things bother or taunt me at the end of the day. However my biggest fear is making the wrong decision and having a child die. Knowing deep down I am responsible for the death of that child.

Progressively aging by the second.

I am absolutely exhausted. It's insane I get home from work and I'm ready for bed as soon as my key is in the lock. In fact driving home is a challenge some days. I shouldn't be this tired I'm young and vibrant. I forgot what it's like to work a forty hour week and be a full time student. Let's not forget I have a house that I have to keep up with too. I shouldn't be this tired. Senior year of college I worked 40 plus hours a week, went to school full time (on campus as opposed to my online classes), and I still managed to party like a rock star when ever I felt the need. Now I'm lucky if I can stay awake until prime time. This weekend I was in bed by 11 every night. Who does that?! I can't even go out partying unless my idea of a party is happy hour at the senior center while playing dollar bingo. I feel bad for Anthony he can't even leave the room for 5 minutes without me passing out for the night. I try so hard to stay awake to the point where I'm fighting sleep. Imagine when you were little and your parents would say "I think some one is tired." and you would say "I'm not tired!" All the while your eyelids are half closed and you can't manage the weight of your own head. I'm that little kid only I'm screaming "LET ME SLEEP, LET ME SLEEP!" This is insanity I say. I hope this week flys by so I can spend my weekend playing Rip Van Winkle.

It's been a while since my last post. Not much has been happening. The new job has kept me busy running around. I've officially been working for 2 weeks as of last Friday. I have worked a 40 hour week since August. I'm surprised I've made it this far. My weeks have been a combination of training and working in the office. I officially have my own desk now. I went and bought a bunch of stuff for my cubicle this week cause I'm such a dork. I couldn't help it. I've been going out with other workers and doing a lot of transports and visits this last week. Friday I brought a 2 month old baby to see its father in prison. It was the first time he'd seen his son. I also supervised a visit between a mother and her three sons. I got to see what it is like to separate siblings and place them in different homes. I haven't really been taken back by anything I've seen so far. I'm not saying that it won't happen sooner or later. At some point this week I'll start to get cases of my own. I'm a little nervous but I'm sure that I will be fine as long as I stay focused and organized. I'm slowly adjusting to the schedule change and I even woke up at 8am this weekend. I was so mad that I couldn't get back to sleep. As much as I hated waking up that early I got a lot done. Anthony has been helping out around the house a lot lately which has been nice. It makes my weekends more enjoyable and it makes me realize how lucky I am to have him. Let's hope these next few weeks flow as easily as the last.